How to Visit Taiwan Visa Free for Philippine Passport Holders

March 7, 2017

(UPDATE October 18, 2017: Taiwan will be visa free for all Philippine passport holders starting November 1, 2017. So I guess this post is now obsolete. But still, Filipinos can now visit Taiwan more easily.

Back in December, I was itching to travel somewhere cold, foreign, and East Asian, lol. I didn’t have enough funds and it was almost Christmas, so I knew applying for a South Korean or Japanese visa would be problematic. When I saw a seat sale to Taipei, I had to book immediately. The next day, I already secured a round trip flight to Taipei for the Chinese New Year weekend with my sister and Marianne.

I had three reasons for wanting to come back to Taiwan. One, I fell in love with the country the first time I visited last winter. Two, the seats are usually on sale. And lastly, I could apply for a Taiwan visa exemption! I had to apply for a visa last time I visited, but now, Taiwan is now visa free for select Filipinos.

Last year they announced that they will waive the tourist visa for Philippine Passport Holders who can meet a certain criteria, such as having a visa issued by certain countries. I was ecstatic because visa fees for Taiwan are not cheap. It also meant I had to skip the process of applying for a visa and organizing all the requirements for it.

As much as going on adventures and conquering challenges are exciting, filing for necessary travel documents is not exactly fun nor exciting. But for my last visit to Taipei, I just applied for a visa exemption online and had a smooth transaction in the immigration in the Philippines and Taiwan.

I love Taiwan and I definitely wish more people will love it as much as I do. To encourage you to give the little country the love it deserves, here’s a step-by-step guide an on how you can enter Taiwan visa free.

Who’s qualified for a visa-free entry to Taiwan?

For PH passport holders to be eligible for a visa-free entry to Taiwan, they must have any of the following documents issued by Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States, or any of the Schengen countries:

Valid resident visa or permanent resident card,

Valid entry visa, including electronic visa,

Resident or entry visa that has expired less than 10 years prior to the date of entry in Taiwan.

So yes, even though your visa has already expired, as long as it expired within the past 10 years, you’re still eligible for the visa exemption in Taiwan.

Aside from the visa from any of the mentioned countries, the following requirements must also be met by PH passport holder:

The applicant must have a passport with at least six months of validity from the date of entry to Taiwan.

The applicant must possess an onward or return airplane or ferry ticket.

The applicant must have never worked in Taiwan as a blue collar worker.

1. Go to the online application form.

There’s only one application form for the passport holders of any nationality eligible for the visa exempt. It’s a straightforward form and you can even select the language of your choice. After selecting the language, you’ll be lead to the next page.

2. Fill out the all the required fields on the form.

There’s only on form to fill and it only asks for the most basic information. Here, you can select from which country you acquired the visa and input the visa number.

I used my South Korea tourist visa, and it took me a long time to figure out which among the numbers stamped on my document was the visa number. I couldn’t find the information online saying which among the codes is the visa number. I asked help from friends and found out that it’s the number on the upper right corner. I get a little paranoid when I fill out forms like this!

3. Confirm all the required information you provided.

On the next page, you’ll be given the chance to review all your information. Double check all the information you provided so you wouldn’t need to redo everything.

Don’t worry so much about making mistakes, though, because you definitely redo the application if you made an error. Believe me, I tried. I am prone to error whatever form I’m filling out.

4. Aaaaand you’re done!

Blocking out my full name to save myself from shame.

I’m not exactly sure what the message in green means, because I’m from Southeast Asia and I received no online check whatsoever.

All that’s left to do is to print out the Travel Authorization Certificate and you’re good. Print out multiple copies because you’ll be presenting it at the immigration in the Philippines and Taiwan. Though they give it back, it’s still better to have extra copies. Make sure to bring the passport bearing your visa!

Comments

Hi! I wanna ask about evisa? My sister applied for an evisa and was approved. Pero superworried ako kasi she is currently in dubai (she chose the taiwan embassy in dubai to apply the evisa). And she has no savings account there.her dubai visa will expire sa 2018 pa naman. I just want to know kung mahogpit ba sa immigration? What documents did the immigration officer ask? My sister was able to get a job in dubai after securing a tourist visa at change of visa na lang. I am worried na baka ganon din isipin mg immigration sa taiwan about her. I just want to know your experience sa immigration. Thank you very much!!

Hi Catcat! My friend who used an evisa didn’t encounter any problems at the immigration. Since her evisa is already approved, she probably wouldn’t encounter any issues, too. If she’s employed in Dubai, I suggest she should bring a certificate of employment and a company ID she could present at immigration just to be safe. 🙂

Thank you for the reply. my sister would be so happy to hear this. I will Just tell her to ask for a COE and Company ID. Oh ANd i have one more question(sorry po sa kakulitan ko), in the evisa, it says there to show proof of financial funds. how about your friend po? did the immigration officer asked her to see one? is cash or credit card acceptable?(instead of bank statements). thank you so much!! your blog is so so helpful po

Hi Jane, Regarding free visa announcement for taiwan.i have read the news that it will be postponed for 1 or 2 months due to technicalities. what is the best thing to do since i have already purchase a plane ticket for august 2017 and even reserved accomodation for taiwan. since i am working homebased i dont have any coe but only bank certificates. i have not traveled outside asia neither south korea or japan but only vietnam and thailand. hoping i can get inputs from you.thanks

hi jane! im glad to hear these things from you.. i just wanna clear up things.. i TRAVELED japan last 2011 and my visa now is already expired. does it mean i am qualified to apply evisa for taiwan? you can reply me in this number 09223756223

Hi, thanks for this informative post! 🙂 I have an expired Korean visa so I was able to get travel authorization certificate. upon printing the certificate, there’s a line below that says i have to fill in an online arrival card (https://oa1.immigration.gov.tw/nia_acard/acardAddAction.action). Would you be familiar with this? Thank you!

Hello, I'm Janey. I'm a fangirl, a bookworm, a dreamer and a wannabe writer. I'm a couch potato and a traveler rolled into one. This is my lame attempt to be a travel blogger based in the PH, but honestly, this is just an archive of my daily reality.